I asked this question a few years ago right after the series ended, but there were few hard answers. It seemed like a fantastic show, but then it just got lopped off and many story lines were clumsily truncated or left hanging.

Were the ratings going downhill that bad or what? Have any answers some to light in the last few years?

The reason I've usually heard is that it was expensive to produce. Which I never really understood, as they basically used the same sets, costumes and props every episode. One would think those would basically be sunk costs after the first season.

Alan Sepinwall interviewed David Milch about the cancellation of Luck, and Deadwood was mentioned.

Quote:

Sepinwall: [Speaking about Luck] I watched the finale again yesterday, and there are a number of moments and lines that feel prophetic — like Marcus saying, "Today's the day they take it all away from us," or Ace's speech at the end — like they were designed to be in a series finale. And that's always how I've viewed the last "Deadwood" episode; like it was a series finale without being intended as one. Were you ever thinking as you wrote this that there would be a chance you wouldn't get to do more?

Milch: [speaking about Luck] No, there was no sense of that on my part. By way of contrast, I absolutely knew when I was writing the last "Deadwood" that it would be the last, and I wrote it intending it as the finale.

Sepinwall: Interesting. I had never heard that before.

Milch: That's the case. I was trying — the last images of Swearengen scrubbing the bloodstain and saying "Wants me to tell him something pretty," that was as close as I felt I could come to a concluding speech.

Deadwood series creator David Milch has said, “I am deeply disappointed by the way things turned out. (HBO) felt like they had to make a choice, and this is how they chose. I know they tried to work it out, and I tried to work it out with them.”

It’s been confirmed that HBO offered to greenlight a small six-episode order of the groundbreaking drama but Milch, who has had bad experiences with so-called “short-order renewals,” rejected the offer. “For my part, I did not want to accept a short order. We couldn’t have done the work the way we wanted. I didn’t want to limp home. My old man used to say, ‘Never go anyplace where you’re only tolerated,’” relates Milch. One source has reported that Milch had already plotted the fourth (presumed final) season episodes.

So in essence, the reason for Deadwood’s ending seems to be a financial one. Milch is working on a new series for HBO (John from Cincinnati) and, due to that commitment, HBO didn’t believe that he would be able to return to Deadwood for quite awhile, delaying the possible start of a Deadwood season four. Deadwood is an expensive show to shoot and it’s assumed that the cable channel didn’t want to (or couldn’t afford to) pay the actor salaries for months while they waited for production to begin.

I think Milch simply lost interest in Deadwood in favor of -- "Oh look, shiny!" -- John from Cincinnati. HBO wanted to keep Milch and they weren't going to insist that he finish Deadwood when he wanted to do something else. That way lies madness, and millions of dollars for a product that wouldn't be up to snuff.

We also have Milch famously saying -- after the cancellation -- that if Ed O'Neill (his original choice) had been cast as Al Swearengen, the show would still be on the air. So even he can't decide on a story!

ETA: Part of the expense was Milch's constant rewriting, not just adding dialogue but adding entire scenes.

I have read that Milch was having severe issues with his drug use which is one reason there were so many re-writes. He would write something and then hand it to the actor. Apparently he was pretty manic and had suffered from several types of mental illnesses over the years such as OCD and manic depression. It is hard to believe a man could turn out something that brilliant on the fly but I bet his head was constantly swarming with ideas.

I can't remember where I read all of that so take it with a grain of salt. It has been a while now. But in such a situation I can see a cancellation without a very clear reason being given. The fact that John from Cincinnati seemed like a good idea to him probably indicated that something was seriously wrong.

When Deadwood ended is when I cancelled HBO and I haven't subscribed since then.

We also have Milch famously saying -- after the cancellation -- that if Ed O'Neill (his original choice) had been cast as Al Swearengen, the show would still be on the air. So even he can't decide on a story!

I ran a site called SaveDeadwood.net for about three years, following the developments from the time the cancellation was announced up through (and past) when it was time to pull the plug.

The official line was the cost, but I tend to agree with Auntie Pam that Milch may have gotten distracted. I had some correspondence with cast members and none of them ever mentioned a problem with Milch, but I don't necessarily expect that they would.

The condensed timeline of the key events is:

May 11, 2006 - Word leaks that HBO has not renewed the contracts of the cast for a fourth season.

May 14, 2006 - SaveDeadwood.net goes online and begins an intensive effort to lobby the television press.

May 25, 2006 - Fans organized through SaveDeadwood.net place an ad in Daily Variety.

June 2, 2006 - Chris Albrecht, then-CEO of HBO, and David Milch meet in New York and reach a handshake deal to produce a pair of telepics to bring Deadwood to a conclusion.

May 5, 2007 - Chris Albrecht punches out his girlfriend in Las Vegas following the Floyd Mayweather - Oscar De La Hoya fight and is forced to resign a few days later, essentially nullifying his agreement with Milch regarding "Deadwood". The new honchos at HBO want no part of "Deadwood," and Milch subsequently loses interest in doing the films.

July 10, 2008 - Richard Plepler (co-president of HBO following Albrecht's departure) more or less sticks a fork in it at the TCA Summer meeting.

Except for the truncated story line with the theater troupe, I think the third season gave us a decent ending. It would have been nice to see the fire and the rebuilding, but that would have been really expensive, if done right, and Milch would have insisted on doing it right.

Someday I'd like to visit the alternate universe where Ed O'Neill got the Swearengen gig just to see how it turned out. And I say this as a shameless O'Neill "fanboy"... I still sort of mourn the short-lived Dragnet reboot he starred in.

I have read that Milch was having severe issues with his drug use which is one reason there were so many re-writes. He would write something and then hand it to the actor. Apparently he was pretty manic and had suffered from several types of mental illnesses over the years such as OCD and manic depression. It is hard to believe a man could turn out something that brilliant on the fly but I bet his head was constantly swarming with ideas.

I can't remember where I read all of that so take it with a grain of salt.

I believe that was NYPD Blue. It was one of the reasons Jimmy Smits left.

I'm a little sceptical that that was what he told the HBO execs they were buying during the pitch-meeting when he was trying to get them to greenlight it.

I remember seeing John described as "surf noir". Kem Nunn, who writes surf noir, was involved in the production.

So it's possible that HBO thought they were getting a fairly straight-up dark drama, like The Sopranos. There'd be drugs and a maybe murder or two, in an unusual setting, and with some spectacular surfing scenes.

Just noticed the Deadwood post,read only a few but I gotta say ending the season w/o any sort of violence happen to Hearst sucked.They couldof taken alittle poetic license.Really tho,some of swearingins quote's damn near changed my life philosophy.

Someday I'd like to visit the alternate universe where Ed O'Neill got the Swearengen gig just to see how it turned out. And I say this as a shameless O'Neill "fanboy"... I still sort of mourn the short-lived Dragnet reboot he starred in.

Another Dragnet fan. Yes, I really don't doubt that O'Neill would have made a wonderful Swearengen...

Just noticed the Deadwood post,read only a few but I gotta say ending the season w/o any sort of violence happen to Hearst sucked.They couldof taken alittle poetic license.

They already took a ton of license with the character. But one of the problems with that season was the fact that you knew they couldn't kill Hearst and couldn't even realistically "defeat" him, so it was hard to believe the two sides were really fighting on equal terms. And in the end they couldn't come up with a satisfying way to resolve the conflict.

Hey all, greetings and all the salz
I have been noticing cancellations of really good shows before they get there call. I have a few claims ..
Deadwood got canned pry more toward the time period edge. Cmon, they brought in a young wyatt but no Doc ? stupid writers should have learned something

They already took a ton of license with the character. But one of the problems with that season was the fact that you knew they couldn't kill Hearst and couldn't even realistically "defeat" him, so it was hard to believe the two sides were really fighting on equal terms. And in the end they couldn't come up with a satisfying way to resolve the conflict.

The conflict ended when the fictional "Hearst" bought or killed all his competitors with his army of Pinkertons and all the little people died or sold their souls for next to nothing. It was the perfect ending to the allegory of entrepreneurship. Back to scrubbing blood off the floors of the whorehouse, an "out damned spot" Lady MacBeth moment. The only thing that could have been better would be a wipe/fade into a modern tourist gift shop with postcards and jewelry boxes and a pull away zoom out on the modern Deadwood street showing all the tourists where people had their dreams.

Deadwood got canned pry more toward the time period edge. Cmon, they brought in a young wyatt but no Doc ? stupid writers should have learned something

"Now who can argue with that? I think we're all indebted to Gabby Johnson for clearly stating what needed to be said. I'm particulary glad that these lovely children were here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age."

Well, zombies are relevant here. Deadwood was cancelled because the audience all fell asleep.

Why did you have to mention zombies and Deadwood? I never knew I wanted to see something so much until it was mentioned, and the knowledge I'll never see Al Swearengen and Bullock and Jane fighting off reanimated Jewel, Cy, and Wu while Doc feverishly looks for a cure and Merrick preys on the town's boys (but turns out not to be a zombie) causes despair.

In spite of the failure of COWBOYS AND ALIENS, I'll bet the right person could get a megamillion dollar commitment right now if they went into a studio office and said "zombies in the HBOld West".

Milch did not want to ditch Deadwood in any way "for another project". Deadwood was his baby. He made a mistake in announcing that amongst the new characters for season 4 would be one William Levingston, a snake oil salesman and hustler whose real name was...(wait for it)...William Rockefeller who was JD Rockefellers daddy. Yes, really.

Now the Rockefeller estate is not particularly proud nor did they not care for their tainted heritage to be hung out to dry in a successful series like Deadwood.

All it took was some gentle persuasion via the CFR channels to trickle down to Time Warner and their subsidiary HBO and presto.... There never came a fourth season of Deadwood. Do not fall for the "o poor us out of money" story or the other crap that is floating around. Deadwood was killed by the Rockefellers - period.

Watch David Milch lament the loss in this video and pay particular attention what he says starting at the 08 minute 10 seconds mark.

Most of you won't understand how pure MouthOfHorse's moonshine is because the clue is subtle and you won't get the reference.

CFR in my world stands for Code of Federal Regulations, the compendium of all rules and regulations of the government. But that's boring. (No, really. Boring, boring, boring.) In the hoodoo of the voodoo world CFR means Council of Foreign Relations, which has been a target of conspiracy theorists of the the first magnitude, as given in this RationalWiki article. That's the shortest explanation I could find. Google council of foreign relations conspiracy theories for the full panoply of madness.

I must say that I'm impressed that the CFR took time out of its weighty agenda of ruling the world in secret to quash a television show that would dare to reveal historical facts that you would otherwise have to turn to *gasp* a book to learn. But we all know about the power of low-rated cable shows.

I thank the previous poster for his reply - even though it appears to be somewhat beliggerent in nature.

Let's not make this an argument about conspiracy theories.

The question of the influence the CFR has in our world has been more than adequately answered by the mere presence of prominent captains of industry and politicians in their membership ranks.

Yes, for all intents and purposes the CFR (and Bilderberg group and Trilateral commission) are ruling the world we live in and how we perceive that world through the media. A few years back not a single individual would even know what CFR is or does nor what the Bilderberg group is. However, times are changing. Hey, before you know it John Doe will start wondering why so many powerful politicians are member of the CFR? Or heads of state attending closed Bilderberg meetings on a yearly basis. Imagine that.

And the infamous David Rockefeller (no relation to the CFR whatsoever right?) would not have had to push hard to terminate a show that would potentially embarass the Rockefeller legacy on a mass medium like cable. All it took was a simple hint to the right person. Funny how well people with power are listened to.

And seriously, you cannot compare a "book" to a cable show but you already knew that. It is one thing for historical facts to exist. It is another if those facts get (mass) media attention. No conspiracy theory needed for this one - even mainstream thinkers can figure this out all by themselves.

A few years back not a single individual would even know what CFR is or does nor what the Bilderberg group is. However, times are changing.

"A few years back?"
I went to a fundamentalist Christian school and we heard this shit all the time in high school. There were pamphlets about it, radio shows, speakers-for-hire, books, tracts...
And this was in the late 70s and early 80s. That's nearly FORTY YEARS AGO, and it wasn't new then. The CFR/Bilderberger conspiracy bullshit has been around since at least the 60s.
Maybe YOU just found out about it a few years ago...